Spork or Foon?

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies

Alright, I know this isn't the prettiest photo in the world. But that doesn't matter, because these are the best brownies ever to hit the history of the world.

I'm not a brownie person. When I was young, my parents would make the box mix brownies and the smell would literally make me want to vomit. I'm not kidding. I shudder at box mix brownies. 

I do not shudder, however, and smooth, fudgey brownies, that are enhanced by the smooth, sweet,velvety mascarpone cheese and topped with a decadent ganache. No, no. These brownies don't make me want to vomit at all. Quite the contrary. These brownies make me do the happy dance. 

I don't know what else to say. These seriously, seriously are the best brownies I have ever had. Hands down. Forget your diet. Eat these today. 

Chocolate Mascarpone Brownies  adapted from Bake or Break

1 cup unsalted butter (plus more for preparing pan)

3 ounces semisweet chocolate, finely chopped

1 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, softened

3 large eggs, at room temperature

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

Ganache

6 ounces high quality bittersweet chocolate (60%), finely chopped

6 tablespoons heavy cream

3 Tablespoons unsalted butter 

Preheat oven to 350°. Butter an 8-inch square glass baking pan and set aside.

Place the butter and chocolate in heat-proof bowl and set over a pot of simmering water.  Stirring constantly, melt butter and chocolate.  Set aside and let cool.

Sift sugar and cocoa powder. Add to the butter/chocolate mixture. Beat in (by hand) the mascarpone, eggs, and vanilla extract until smooth. Fold in flour and salt.

Pour batter into pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on cooling rack.

Ganache

Place chopped chocolate in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, heat the butter and cream over medium heat, stirring constantly. When mixture is almost boiling, pour over the chocolate. Let stand for 30 seconds. Then, stir until smooth.

Pour ganache over cooled brownies and spread evenly.

Allow ganache to firm before cutting brownies. Brownies may be placed in refrigerator to expedite this.

Yields 16 brownies.

 

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Mixed Berry Compote

Ok, OK, I know we all want to be healthy right now, but would you look at that? And Valentine's Day is a few weeks away, so we all know we're just going to start indulging again, so let's start now. 

Man, I am the worst influence ever. 

I love me some cheesecake. Smooth, creamy, sumptuous. I know that berries are out of season, but I brought them back into season by putting a pinch of all-spice in the compote, making these feel nice and wintery. 

Oh man. Would you look at that? I don't mean to toot my own horn, but wow. My mouth is watering just thinking about the wonders of this cheesecake. 

Obviously, this isn't supposed to happen. It looks more like a souffle than a cheesecake. It still makes me want to faceplant right into this. 

Is it time to break our New Years diets yet? No? Too soon?

Vanilla Bean Cheesecake with Spiced Berry Compote

Vanilla bean Cheesecake Recipe adapted from Joy of Baking

Filling:

32 ounces cream cheese, room temperature(use full fat, not reduced or fat free cream cheese)

1 cup granulated white sugar

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

5 large eggs, room temperature

1/3 cup (80 ml) heavy whipping cream (double cream)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 vanilla beans

Crust:

2 cups graham cracker crumbs 

 1/4 cup granulated white sugar

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

2 tsp cinnamon

Grease, or spray with Pam, a 9 inch (23 cm) springform pan. Wrap the outside of the pan with aluminum foil. Place the springform pan on a larger baking pan to catch any leakage while the cheesecake is baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) with rack in center of oven.

For Crust: In a medium sized bowl combine the graham cracker crumbs, sugar, and melted butter. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and about 1 inch (2.5 cm) up the sides of the springform pan, Cover and refrigerate while you make the filling

For Filling: In bowl of your electric mixer place the cream cheese, sugar, and flour. Beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes), scraping down the bowl as needed. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well (about 30 seconds) after each addition.Scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add the whipping cream, lemon zest, and beat until incorporated. Split open your vanilla beans and scrape out the seeds and guts inside the bean. lRemove the crust from the refrigerator and pour in the filling. Place the cheesecake pan a larger baking pan and place in the oven.

Bake for 15 minutes and then lower the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) and continue to bake for about another 60 -90 minutesor until firm and only the center of the cheesecake looks a little wet and wobbly. (The baking time can vary due to the differences in ovens, so make sure to check that the cheesecake is firm with only the center being a little wet and wobbly.) Remove from oven and place on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla extract. Spread the topping over the warm cheesecake and return to oven to bake for 15 more minutes.  Remove from oven and carefully run a knife or spatula around the inside edge of pan to loosen the cheesecake (helps prevent the surface from cracking as it cools).

Let cool completely before covering with plastic wrap. Refrigerate several hours, preferably overnight. Top with compote

Spiced Berry Compote

1 cup blueberries

1 cup raspberries

1 cup blackberries

1 lemon

Select about 1/2 cup of the a mixture of the berries  and set aside. These will be added raw to the cooked compote; set aside.

Place the remaining berries in  a medium saucepan.

Use a fine grater or a Microplane to zest the lemon. Add 1 teaspoon of the zest to the pan. Squeeze 1 tablespoon of juice from the lemon and add to the pan. Add the sugar and stir to coat the fruit.

Place the pan over medium-high heat and cook, stirring often to dissolve the sugar. By the time the sugar has dissolved, the fruit will have released a lot of juice. Boil for about 4 minutes to reduce the liquid somewhat, then reduce the heat and simmer for another 2 minutes, or until the rhubarb is soft. Don’t worry if some of the rhubarb falls apart.

Remove from the heat and stir in the reserved berries. Cool to room temperature, then refrigerate in a covered container until cold. (This makes about 4 cups of compote, but the extra will keep for a couple of weeks and is delicious for breakfast with some greek yogurt.

Get more deliciousness at Almond Cake with Strawberry-Rhubarb Compote Recipe | Leite's Culinaria

 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 12: Rolo-Filled Chocolate Cake Cookies

I MADE IT. The last day of 12 Days of Christmas Cookies. Sure, it took me almost a whole month to post 12 cookie recipes, but who is counting?

I can say this... I will be happy to not see another cookie for at least two weeks. Maybe a week and a half. Or at least a few days.

We'll see how long I last. 

These cookies are perfect to post here, this last day before Christmas festivities begin, because they take all of five minutes to put together. And you know why? Because the batter is made of box cake mix. 

Don't tell anyone.

Yes, I used a box cake mix to make cookies and I'm not embarrassed to admit it. OK, maybe I'm a little embarrassed to admit it. But once you taste these cookies you will be SO HAPPY that you won't even care that you didn't cream the butters and sugars yourself, sift the flours and unsweetened cocoa powder, and gradually add the dry ingredients. 

No, no. You just grab two eggs, a little bit of vegetable oil, some powdered box cake mix, and you get in there with your hands and you mix! 

Yes, with your hands. This batter is very dry, so it's hard to mix with a spatula or a whisk. 

I think the most time consuming part of this is unwrapping the rolos. And fighting the urge to unwrap a rolo, pop a rolo in your mouth. Unwrap a rolo, pop a rolo in your mouth. 

You get where I'm going with this. 

I felt like Lucille Ball in that episode of I Love Lucy where they are wrapping the little chocolate candies and the conveyer belt keeps going faster and faster and they just have to shove little chocolates in their mouth. 

When you take these out of the oven, be sure to open one when it is cool enough to touch. Watching that thick caramel ooze out of the soft, chocolatey cookie, will make you squeal with delight. 

Caramel Filled Chocolate Cake Cookies (a.k.a. Rolo Cookies) adapted from Very Culinary
Makes approx. 48 cookies

Ingredients
• 1 (12 ounce) package Rolos
• 1 box Devils Food Cake mix, sifted
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil

• 1/2 cup granulated or powdered sugar (I used granulated because I like the texture the crystals give it)

Variation

• Add 1 tbsp cinnamon to your granulated sugar and roll cookies in cinnamon sugar. If you like chocolate and cinnamon, it is to die for! 

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, oil, and eggs. The mixture will be very thick. If necessary, combine the dough with your hands (clean hands!). Take a small portion of the dough (about a 1/2 tablespoon, just enough to cover the rolo) and form a ball around the rolo.

Roll in sugar and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silpat mat. They don't spread much, so leaving an 1 or 2 room between cookies should suffice. 

Bake for 10 minutes. Press down slightly/gently and let cool for a few minutes.

 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 9: Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

OK, I know I'm all about stuffing things right now (including my face), but you guys. Seriously. I just can't. This may be the best cookie ever to be on my blog.  Do you even know the wonder of wonderment that is an Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookie?

I think we all need to unleash our inner fat kid and just let loose on these things.  We need to sit down and eat at least 10 of them. Again, no worries on calories, because calories don't count on Christmas. 

These cookies are so awesome, I'm slightly naseous just thinking about it. Like the feeling you get when you sit down to eat an Oreo and then you look down and realize you've eaten an entire sleeve of Oreos. 

And now Nabisco has gotten clever with the packaging so you have to do even less work to eat Oreos. Instead of opening the package from the side, Oreo has a nifty little top that you just pull back on top of the package, revealing an army of Oreos, standing at attention, waiting to be picked up with eager fingers and dunked in milk and devoured.

Wait a minute. You mean now I can eat oreos even faster???

You take a perfect cookie recipe, the New York Times chocolate chip cookie recipe, and wrap it around the most perfect processed food, an Oreo cookie, as if you are swaddling a baby. The most tender, precious baby you've ever swaddled. You start to get all misty eyed as you sing it a little lullaby, staring into its big, brown chocolate chips and caressing its caramel skin. 

Don't lie. You know you want to eat that just as it is. 

I can't tell you, this may have been the most tortorous set of photos to edit. 300+ photos of oreo-stuffed chocolate chip cookie goodness. I really do try to not eat too many of these baked goods - just a bite here and there to taste, and then I give them away as fast as I can so I don't eat them. I think I'm going to have to ask for these back, though. 

I'm not kidding. I want them back.

Oreo-Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe Adapted from New York Times but you can use your favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe or even store-bought dough if you'd like!) 

2 cups minus 2 tablespoons

(8 1/2 ounces) cake flour

1 2/3 cups (8 1/2 ounces) bread flour

1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt

2 1/2 sticks (1 1/4 cups) unsalted butter

1 1/4 cups (10 ounces) light brown sugar

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons (8 ounces) granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 teaspoons natural vanilla extract

1 1/4 pounds semi-sweet chocolate chips

Oreos

Sift flours, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl. Set aside.

Using a mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream butter and sugars together until very light, about 5 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Stir in the vanilla. Reduce speed to low, add dry ingredients and mix until just combined, 5 to 10 seconds. Drop chocolate pieces in and incorporate them without breaking them. Press plastic wrap against dough and refrigerate for 24 to 36 hours. Dough may be used in batches, and can be refrigerated for up to 72 hours.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking mat. Set aside.

In your palm, take a big enough piece of cookie dough to lay on oreo on.  Place the oreo in the center of the cookie dough and fold the cookie dough over the Oreo, completely covering the cookie.  Place on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Let rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Bake until golden brown but still soft, 18 to 20 minutes. Transfer sheet to a wire rack for 10 minutes, then slip cookies onto another rack to cool a bit more. 

 

 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 8: Bailey's Irish Cream White Chocolate Truffles

Now, I know these truffles aren't technically cookies, but they are made of booze, and when you drink enough booze, anything can be a cookie. 

I love white chocolate. Like seriously, seriously, seriously love white chocolate. And I know there are plenty of white chocolate haters out there. 

"It's not chocolate!" they'll shout! "It doesn't have cocoa solids!" 

Is the word chocolate in its title?

Then it's chocolate. 

These truffles are tiny little no-bake bites of heaven. Smooth, incredible Callebut chocolate is melted down with heavy cream, and swirled with Bailey's Irish Cream, the best liquor in the world. No, really, it is. Have you ever poured it on ice cream?  Do yourself a huge favor and grab a big bowl of ice cream, some Bailey's and go nuts.  And if you're reading it and it is breakfast time, it's totally socially acceptable to do this. I promise. 

I dipped the smooth, creamy center in tempered white chocolate to create a lovely shell that just "pops" when you bite thorugh it and then dusted them with a little bit of disco dust to give them a nice gold shimmer.   

Can we just stop for a minute? Who came up with that name? When I think of disco dust, I think of Studio 54, with people doing the hustle in big glittery purple sunglasses that are three times the size of their heads, hot pink feather boas, too tight shimmery pants, and towering white platform shoes. I don't think of glittery powder to dust onto confections. 

Regardless, these truffles are an elegant addition to any dessert table on Christmas. With or without the feather boa. 

Bailey's Irish Cream White Chocolate Truffles 

8 ounces high quality white chocolate (I used Callebut), chopped fine 
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream (any flavor is fine)

Coating

8 ounces high quality white chocolate, finely chopped (about 1 1/3 cup)
2 ounces extra chocolate, in 1 or 2 chunks

For Truffles: Place the chopped chocolate in a medium sized stainless steel bowl. Set aside.  Heat the cream and butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil.  Immediately pour the boiling cream over the chocolate and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Stir with a whisk until smooth.  If desired, add the liqueur. 

 Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Refrigerate until cool and texture resembles firm cream cheese, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. (If mixture has chilled for longer and is very stiff, let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.)

With an electric mixer, beat the mixture at high speed until fluffy, mousse-like, and the mixture forms medium stiff peaks, 1 to 1 1/2 minutes.

Spread the mixture into a shallow pan and freeze until firm enough to scoop, at least 3 hours.

Have ready a bowl of hot water, a melon baller, a sheet pan lined with wax paper, and the firm filling. Dip the melon baller into the water and wipe dry. Scoop out a scant 1-inch ball of the filling. Set on the prepared sheet and repeat with the remaining truffle base. If you don’t have a melon-baller, use a sharp knife to cut the base into little squares. Roll each piece between your fingers.

Freeze the filling again until firm, about 1 hour.

If you prefer to have the shell on the truffles, follow these instructions on David Lebovitz's page to temper the chocolate. 

Line another sheet pan with wax paper.

Using a fork to cradle the filling, dip the filling in the bowl of melted chocolate and coat with chocolate. The the excess drip off, then place on wax paper.  Repeat with remaining truffles. Store for up to 1 week in an air-tight container. 

12 Days of Christmas Cookies - Day 6: Melt in Your Mouth Chai Spiced Snowballs (Italian Wedding Cookies)

So these aren't really called Snowball coookies; they are (Insert Your Culture) Wedding Cookies. And since I'm half Italian, I call them Italian wedding cookies.  They are also known as Russian Wedding Cookies or Mexican Wedding Cookies. I'm not really sure how it came about that at least three different cultures lay claim to these cookies, but it's probably because they are so freaking awesome. 

 These are, by far, Jack's favorite cookies. He constantly asks for them and for some reason, I never make them. But when he heard that I was going to make these cookies for this cookie series, he did his happy dance. 

 

Made of finely ground almonds and enough butter to make Paula Deen weep and then tossed in a ton of powdered sugar, these cookies are so incredibly light and tender that they truly do melt-in-your-mouth when you bite into them. To make them a bit more wintery, I added some Chai Spice and that was a huge YES addition. 

 

The chai spice adds such a lovely flavoring to the cookies. Jack had one bite of these cookies and started running around the apartment with a smile on his face. He then ran back into the kitchen, pushed me out of the way, and then grabbed three more cookies. 

 

As a side bar, I know some men don't find Chai spice manly, and I think that's crazy. A good friend of mine loves Skinny Chai Spice lattes from Starbucks, but would never order them because he was embarrased. There is nothing embarrassing about skinny chai lattes because they are AWESOME. Wear it loud and proud! Like a pink shirt!  It's manly!  

Chai Spiced Snowball Cookies (Italian Wedding Cookies) 

Makes about 40 cookies

 1 1/2 cups unsalted butter

 3/4 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups finely ground almonds

4 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1/3 cup confectioners' sugar for rolling

2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 teaspoon ground cardamom

2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon ground coriander

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Combine spices, salt and flour and combine with a whisk. 

Cream butter in a bowl, gradually add confectioners' sugar and salt. Beat until light and fluffy. Add almonds and vanilla. Blend in flour gradually and mix well.

Shape into balls using about 1 teaspoon for each cookie. Place on ungreased cookie sheets, and bake for 15-17 minutes. Do not brown. Cool slightly, then roll in the extra confectioners' sugar.

12 Days of Christmas Cookies, Day 4- Gooey Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

When  say gooey, I mean an ooey gooey wonderland of all different kinds of chocolate.  Dark chocolate, white chocolate, semi-sweet chocolate, chocolate chocolate CHOCOLATE! 

If you like soft, chewy, melt in your mouth cookies, these are the cookies for you. Minty, creamy, smooth and delicious.  I don't know if I have any more words to describe the wonderous wondrossity of these cookies. They are so good, they have me making up words like wondrossity. 

You can buy peppermint bark from the store if you don't want to make your own, Homemade peppermint bark is so much better than the store bought stuff, ya'll.

 Sometimes I really wish I was southern so I could get away with saying ya'll more often (or ever).  Things sound so much sweeter when you're trying to convince a group of people to do things with a sweet southern accent, like Paula Deen trying to get you to eat a stick of butter ("Look at that butter! Don't you just want to drink it through a straw? Nomnomnom, y'all!"), or Tami Taylor trying to convince the school board not to go through with those budget cuts because she needs to save more kids, ya'll.

See? Isn't that nice?

Gooey Chocolate Peppermint Bark Cookies

(Makes about 3 dozen cookies)

Preparation:
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ cup Dutch processed cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 ounces semi-sweet chocolate

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons instant espresso
1-¼ sticks unsalted butter, softened
1-½ cups brown sugar
½ cup granulated sugar

2 cups peppermint bark, chopped

 

Preheat the oven to 350.

Sift together the flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt.

Chop chocolate finely and place in a heat-proof bowl. Set over a pot of simmering water (make sure that the water does not touch the bottom of the bowl) and stir with a wooden spoon or silicone spatula until the chocolate is fully melted. (You can also melt the chocolate at 50% power in the microwave in 45-second spurts, stirring the chocolate after each time until melted). 

Combine eggs and the vanilla together. Stir in the coffee granules.

In the bowl of an electric mixer or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream the butter. Add the sugars and beat until just combined.  Gradually add the egg mixture and combine.  Gradually add the melted chocolate and combine  

Lower the speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.  Add the peppermint bark and mix in completely. Cover the bowl and allow it to sit for 20 minutes (I actually put this in the fridge before forming cookies with a 1-¾” scoop. Bake 2 sheets at a time for approximately 12 minutes, reversing the direction of the sheets, top to bottom and front to back halfway through baking. Do not overbake. Allow the cookies to rest on the sheets for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

 

 

Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow and Malted Chocolate Frostings

I haven't had much time to write, and I have to keep this one short, but I couldn't hold this one back anymore - this cake, also known as a Campfire Cake from Sweetapolita, is RIDONCULOUS.  And it is by far the best looking cake I have ever made.

Soft, incredibly light layers of chocolate cake are layered with a toasted marshmallow frosting (yes, you read that correctly) and then the outside of the cake is frosted with a delicious malted chocolate frosting.

Are you drooling yet?

I had to make some adjustments to the original recipe, adding a bit more powdered sugar to the toasted marshmallow frosting and minimizing the amount of marshmallow fluff that I used on the inside layers. I also made this cake a three-layer cake as opposed to a six-layer cake, because, let's face it, I just don't have enough patience to make a six-layer cake. Especially on Thanksgiving morning, when I made this cake.

This cake is a for reals party stopper. For reals, for reals. 

And as I re-read that sentence, I realize that the term is "show-stopper", not "party stopper".  Who would want a party stopping cake? That would be a pretty crappy cake. 

If you want to check out the cake in all of it's glory, head over to Sweetapolita.  And have some fun around that site - she is unbelievable. 

Chocolate Cake with Toasted Marshmallow and Malted Chocolate Frostings (AKA Campfire Cake) - adapted from Sweetapolita

Rich Chocolate Cake Ingredients: 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour 2 cups granulated sugar 3/4 cup premium Cocoa Powder 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 eggs 1 cup strong black coffee 1 cup buttermilk, room temperature 1/2 cup vegetable oil 1.tablespooon pure vanilla extract Method: Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare 3 x 8" cake pans with butter and flour or parchment paper. In bowl of electric mixer, sift all dry ingredients. Add all remaning ingredients to bowl with the dry ingredients and with paddle attachment on mixer, mix for 2 minutes on medium speed (you may need the plastic splashguard that comes with mixer) and pour into prepared pans. Batter will be liquidy. Bake for 20 minutes and rotate pans in oven. Cakes are done when toothpick or skewer comes clean--approximately 35 minutes. Try not to over bake. Cool on wire racks for 20 minutes then gently invert onto racks until completely cool. Malted Belgian Chocolate Frosting          Ingredients: 1 lb butter (4 sticks or 2 cups) at room temperature 4 cups icing sugar (confectioners’ or powdered) 3 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 3/4 cup Ovaltine Classic  8 oz premium bittersweet chocolate chocolate, chopped  1/2 cup heavy cream Method: Place chopped chocolate in a heat proof bowl. Heat heavy cream over medium high heat until it comes to a simmer.  Immediately pour over chopped chocolate and let sit for 30 seconds.  With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, mix heavy cream and chopped chocolate until the chocolate is fully melted.  Set aside to cool  In a bowl of stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine the icing sugar and butter and beat on low speed for about 1 minute. Add vanilla and malt powder, and beat on low until well combined. Add the melted chocolate and beat on medium speed until smooth (about 2 minutes).  Best used right away. Toasted-Marshmallow Frosting           Ingredients: 16 large white marshmallows 1 1/2 cup icing sugar (confectioners’ or powdered) 1/2 lb butter (2 sticks, or 1 cup) at room temperature 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 7.5 oz Marshmallow Fluff Method: Place marshmallows on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Place on lower rack of oven, and broil marshmallows until nice and brown on top, between 30-60 seconds. Remove pan from oven and gently turn the marshmallows over, and broil until they are golden brown. Be sure to keep an eye on them–they burn very, very quickly. Combine butter and icing sugar in electric mixer fitted with paddle attachment, on low until blended (about 1 minute). Add vanilla and mix on high for about 3 minutes. Add marshmallow cream and toasted marshmallows, and mix on lowest setting for about 1 minute. To Assemble Place one layer of chocolate cake on a turntable or flat plate and spoon toasted marshmallow frosting on top. Spread evenly to cover layer. Repeat with remaining layers.  Frost with Malted Chocolate Frosting.

 

Cinnamon Sugar Topped Chocolate Swirled Pumpkin Biscotti

I was inspired to make these when I saw a tweet from Kayln's Kitchen about The Perfect Pantry's Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Biscotti.  I had leftover pumpkin sitting in my fridge from a recent foray into making my pumpkin chocolate chip cookies  and, really, who can have enough pumpkin and chocolate?

I know biscotti is perfect for dipping into coffee, but frankly, I'm not too much of a fan of hard biscotti.  I usually will only eat the harder biscotti if one end is dipped in chocolate.  And then, I'll just break off the chocolate end and put the non-dipped end back in the cookie pile.

Yes, I am totally that person who eats halves of things and leaves the rest. I'm always trying to watch what I eat, but I can't help it, I love dessert. At office cupcake parties, I would cut out a quarter slice of a cupcake and leave the 3/4 on the table. Whenever I go home to my father's house, the first thing I do is open the cookie jar. He usually has oreos. So I eat half a cookie and throw the other half back in the jar. His cookie jar is filled with oreo cookie halves.

You may say, that's ridiculous Teanna! Yes, it is, but at least it's not like I'm taking the part with the Oreo cream and then just leaving the gross top of the outer cookie there!  I'm a sharer and a carer!

That said, when I make biscotti, I usually try to make a softer, lighter kind of biscotti, and these are those kinds of biscotti. Perfectly tender, with just a small crunch to them, topped with Cinnamon Sugar and swirled with semi-sweet chocolate. These cookies have just the right touch of sweetness, perfect for breakfast, lunch, dinner, appetizer, side dish, pre-workout, after-workout, midnight snack. 

And they were really supposed to be chocolate chip biscotti and not chocolate swirl biscotti, but I my have chopped the chocolate too finely, because it created this swirl. But it's all how you sell it! Chocolate chip turns to chocolate swirl and it sounds so fun!  Like the sea of swirly twirly gumdrops from Elf! 

Ok I'll stop now. Check out The Perfect Pantry's great recipe as well! 

Ingredients

• 3-1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup white sugar, plus 1 tablespoon for cinnamon sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon, divided
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin 
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 4 tbsp unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup finely chopped semi-sweet chocolate or mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicone mat.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, 1/2 tsp nutme, 1/4 tsp cloves, 1 tbsp cinnamon and salt together. 

With a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 cup white sugar together at medium speed for 3 minutes. The sugars will look crumbly. Add the eggs one at a time and continue to beat for another 2 minutes. Beat in the vanilla extract. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients, mixing only until they are incorporated. The dough will be soft and sticky.  

In a separate bowl, combine 1 tablespoon cinnamon and 1 tbsp white sugar.  Set aside.

Scrape half the dough onto one side of the baking sheet. Using your fingers and a rubber spatula  work the dough into a log about 12 inches long and 3 inches wide. The log will be more rectangular than domed, and bumpy, rough and uneven. Form a second log with the remaining dough on the other side of the baking sheet.  Sprinkle both logs with cinnamon sugar.

Bake for 25 minutes, or until the logs are lightly golden but still soft and springy to the touch. Transfer the baking sheet to a rack and cool the logs on the baking sheet for 1 hour.

Using a wide metal spatula, transfer the logs to a cutting board and, with a long serrated knife, trim the ends and cut the logs into 1-inch-thick slices. Return the slices to the baking sheet standing up and return to the oven. 

Bake the biscotti for another 20 minutes, or until they are golden and firm. Transfer them to racks and cool to room temperature.

Funfetti Cake

I don't know if all of the other bloggers out there deal with the same thing I do, but whenever someone is tasked with picking out a cake for my birthday, they always try to pick out some fancy, gourmet cake with fruit or some strange flavor combination, when all I really want is a good, Carvel Ice Cream Cake. Extra crunchies.  

My friends and I at my last job would always find a reason to order ice cream cake. National Middle Child Day? Ice Cream Cake.  Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Ice Cream Cake (complete with photoshopped Birthday Hat on MLK and his speech playing in the background). National Speak Like a Pirate Day? Well... we actually didn't have time to get the cake that day, but we wanted to, complete with asking the person at the counter to write "Arrrrrrrr" on the cake. 

Needless to say, I miss those days of wreckless ice cream cake eating. 

A few months back, one of the members of our Carvel Cake Clan (I just made that up), got a new job, and for her goodbye party, we of course got ice cream cake, but then we needed something else. So I offered to make this funfetti cake. 

For some reason, I was very nervous about making this cake. You see, there is a reason why the Funfetti cake box mix is so popular. Because it's freaking AWESOME. Why reinvent the wheel when something is so perfect?

But I wanted to be different. I typically don't ever use box mixes for anything (unless they are cake balls - it allows me to eat them faster) so I didn't want to use a box mix for this. 

I used my go to white cake recipe and then threw a ton of sprinkles in it. Most recipes call for 2 or 3 tbsp, but I went big and doubled that. I knew that was probably a bad idea... but I just couldn't stop myself. I love sprinkles.

I popped the cake in the oven and allowed it to bake.  The smell of sugary sprinkles baking filled the air. I started to get nervous. I've never smelled sprinkles before. I flicked on the oven light and saw a tie dye of rainbow sprinkles atop the top of the cake.  I got nervous that the sprinkles were caramelizing and melting into the cake, but I let the cake finish baking. 

Luckily, although the top of the cake was somewhat frightful, the rest of the cake was wonderful. Light, airy, and speckled with a colorful rainbow of wonderfully bright jimmies. 

Topped with some vanilla frosting, decorated with more sprinkles, and then grab your party hats people, it's cake time. 

I didn't get any cut shots of the cake, because I was worried that people would judge me if I was taking photos of my own cake in the conference room, but let me just tell you, it was beautiful. 

And you know what's amazing? Funfetti cake topped with Carvel Ice Cream Cake. Watch out now. Now it's a real party. 

Funfetti Cake 

Cake recipe adapted from Cooks Illustrated (I also made a 3-layer cake, but this recipe is for a 2-layer cake.  To add the 3rd layer, increase ingredients by 1/2)

2 1/4 cups cake flour (9 ounces), plus more for dusting the pans 

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature 

6 large egg whites (3/4 cup), at room temperature 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar (12 1/4 ounces) 

4 teaspoons baking powder 

6 tablespoons rainbow sprinkles

1 teaspoon table salt 

12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks), softened but still cool

Set oven rack in middle position. (If oven is too small to cook both layers on a single rack, set racks in upper-middle and lower-middle positions.) Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch round cake pans with nonstick cooking spray; line the bottoms with parchment or waxed paper rounds. Spray the paper rounds, dust the pans with flour, and invert pans and rap sharply to remove excess flour. 

Pour milk, egg whites, and extract into 2-cup glass measure, and mix with fork until blended. 

Mix cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in bowl of electric mixer at slow speed. Add butter; continue beating at slow speed until mixture resembles moist crumbs, with no powdery streaks remaining. 

Add all but 1/2 cup of milk mixture to crumbs and beat at medium speed (or high speed if using handheld mixer) for 1 1/2 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk mixture and beat 30 seconds more. Stop mixer and scrape sides of bowl. Add sprinkles. Return mixer to medium (or high) speed and beat 20 seconds longer. 

Divide batter evenly between two prepared cake pans; using rubber spatula, spread batter to pan walls and smooth tops. Arrange pans at least 3 inches from the oven walls and 3 inches apart. (If oven is small, place pans on separate racks in staggered fashion to allow for air circulation.) Bake until thin skewer or toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 23 to 25 minutes. 

Let cakes rest in pans for 3 minutes. Loosen from sides of pans with a knife, if necessary, and invert onto wire racks. Reinvert onto additional wire racks. Let cool completely, about 1 1/2 hours.

Layer cakes with vanilla frosting, frost outside and decorate as you wish! 

Vanilla Frosting Recipe

1 cup butter, softened

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

In a bowl combine butter, sugar and salt. Beat till blended.

Add the milk and vanilla and beat for an additional 3 to 5 minutes or until smooth and creamy.